


Won't Leave Anyone Else Behind

by moonlightbeanlight



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Eddie Kaspbrak, Blood, Blood and Injury, Duh it's Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie doesn't die that's dumb, Explicit Language, F/M, First Kiss, Fix-It of Sorts, Gay Richie Tozier, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, No Myra Kaspbrak, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Requited Love, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier's Trashmouth, The Losers Club Are Good Friends (IT), Trans Male Character, Trans Richie Tozier, everyone is alive except stan, grey water
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:42:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24994057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightbeanlight/pseuds/moonlightbeanlight
Summary: It was obvious. As kids everyone could see right through Richie. Richie was in love with Eddie Kaspbrak. The problem? Nobody remembered it except for Richie, as an adult. He told Bev at some point before he had gone off for his token. But that's about as much as either of them knew. Things were still blurry for everyone, their memories not fully coming back. Richie did know however that he wasn't about to lose the love of his life again. He didn't care if it meant the Neibolt house toppling over him and Eddie as he tried to drag him out. Dying with him would be better than living while knowing he could have stopped it. He didn't believe anyone saying he was gone. Not Bev, not Ben, not Bill, and especially not Mike.He would trade his life for Eddie's without a second thought, consequences be damned.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 9





	1. Told

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Once again I'm new to writing and this is my first multi chaptered work! Let me know of any grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary mistakes I may have! Thank you for your time and please be gentle my ego is fragile!

He had told them.  
Richie fucking told them Eddie was alive. He fought to be near Eddie and to make sure he was breathing. He had nearly punched more than one the Losers’.. Mostly Mike. He was very fucking upset with Mike.   
They knew. That’s what upset him the most. They knew Richie would trade his life for Eddie’s, that Richie would not fucking leave without Eddie. Sadly, only Bev knew Richie wouldn’t leave his childhood love again. The first time wasn’t on purpose. Richie was sure of that, memory of it or not, and he knew, for a fact, he wasn’t going to let this time be intentional.  
That’s how he ended up where he was, worryingly waiting for a nurse to tell him what was happening. He had literally dragged Eddie’s limp body out of the toppling house, throwing him carefully over his shoulder without a second word to the Losers to carry the passed out man to his car. The other Losers were in shock, staring at the house and embracing each other. He found the first hospital he could in Derry, one hand on the wheel, the other resting on Eddie’s knee anxiously. The logical side of his brain was telling him the reassuring squeeze did nothing, but he didn’t seem to care. It made him feel better to make it seem like it made Eddie feel better.  
It was very difficult to explain what had happened. Why was Eddie bleeding out of two places? Why are they both covered in blood and shit water? Do they need to call the cops?   
Now thankfully, Richie was very good at improvising and came up with a whole story. He explained to the nurses that some old school bullies had ganged up on him and his friends, nearly killing them in the old Neibolt house. When asked what happened to the bullies he merely told them that they had run off when Richie had climbed out with Eddie, so he didn’t see where they would have gone.   
Now the lucky thing is: Richie is a great actor. The perks of working on a stage meant he could easily sway people without coming off too suspicious. So luckily, the nurses believed him as they filed the report, sending him to another room so they could sterilize him and make sure he wasn’t hurt while they operated on Eddie.   
Things were going well, Richie was cleaned and showered, having quickly gone back to the hotel to get more clothes and waiting for well over five hours. He had filled up on a shitty turkey sandwich that tasted like cardboard earlier, so all he had to do was anxiously wait, foot tapping and eyes staring unfocused in the distance.   
He was listening closely for one set of footsteps coming close to tell him Eddie was okay. What he was not ready for, was four sets of footsteps suddenly ringing in his ear, coming dangerously close to him. Of course, the sudden volume of the steps made him jump out of his chair, eyes wide behind shattered glasses. At first he was relieved to see it was the Losers, but then he remembered if he had listened to them Eddie would be dead. The nurses straight up told him that if Richie was even a minute late they wouldn’t have been able to save him.   
Rage boiled in his throat, however he knew better than to start screaming in a hospital. He was a douche not insensitive. He just glared, brown eyes narrowed as he sat back down, glaring back at the wall in front of them.  
“Is there a Richie Tozier out here?’ a voice suddenly called out, startling all the Losers, Richie proceeding to stand. He had managed to ignore any of his “friends” trying to apologize or anything. The nurse gave a sweet smile and gestured to the door, “Eddie is awake. He would like to see you,” she hummed out softly, clipboard held tight to her stomach. She led Richie into the room, explaining the situation.  
Thankfully the surgery was successful, Eddie unable to eat or drink anything at the moment as the “knife” of Mr. Henry Bowers, had punctured his stomach. Large ass fucking knife if you asked anybody. But Eddie got fluids from the IV hooked to his left arm, and his cheek was healing over well, probably the worst going to happen being a scar on his cheek and tongue. They stepped into view, Richie’s heart stopping when he saw Eddie, awake and messing with the tube connected to his arm. The older man sat up when the nurse cleared her throat, eyes connecting with Richie’s.  
“Oh thank fuck, I was about to come to hell and beat your ass for leaving me-”


	2. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are short but this is my book so uh sorry I guess.   
> Please enjoy! Love you guys!

“Oh thank fuck, I was about to come to hell and beat your ass for leaving me-” Eddie growled out, a small smirk resting on pale lips.  
Richie let out a weak chuckle, rolling his eyes as the nurse left them to be alone for a moment. The taller male walked over, sitting down in the chair right next to the hospital bed, eyes lifting to lock with the ever so lighter brown ones seeming to stare right through him. “Hey Spaghetti-” he joked, like old times.  
“I swear to god I almost die and you call me spaghetti? Rude,” Eddie grumbled, moving just ever so slightly closer, careful not to hurt himself. He slowly held out a hand, as if waiting for Richie to take it.  
For some reason.. Richie hesitated. All Richie had wanted to do for hours was hold Eddie, but now that the moment presented itself he didn’t know what to do. Hesitantly he reached out and took Eddie’s hand, the shorter male taking advantage of his hesitation and locking their fingers together almost immediately.  
It was silent for a while, the two men resting in a comfortable silence, Richie’s eyes occasionally locking up with Eddie’s but mostly sticking to their hands. He didn’t realize how different their hands were. Eddie’s hand was clearly scarred up from falling, nails digging into his palm when he was nervous, and a bit calloused. Luckily for Richie’s ego though, his hand was bigger than Eddie’s almost to the point his own hand could probably cover Eddie’s in one fell swoop if they weren’t careful about it.   
“How.. How are you feeling?” Richie asked after a while, clearing his throat. He realized his throat was a little hoarse, considering this is the most he’s spoken in almost 24 hours. He said occasional words to nurses but he last said full blown sentences when he was explaining what had happened to Eddie in the first place.   
Eddie let out a scoff, his eyes opening-when had he even closed them? “Just peachy. I’m all hopped up on drugs that make me feel like I’m floating so I can’t even feel the two gaping holes in my body-”  
Richie rolled his eyes, giving Eddie’s hand a soft squeeze on instinct. What instinct you ask? Not even Richie knew the answer to that one. He hadn’t really remembered anything about them being together except for when they were kids. That was pretty much the only reason he remembered he was in love with this man, which meant of course it all came back now despite Eddie being a married man. In the midst of thinking he seemed to have drifted off, only being pulled back by Eddie clearing his throat.  
“Hey Trashmouth, are you going to answer my question or just keep staring at our hands?” he asked, a bushy eyebrow quirking itself.   
Richie sat up and cleared his throat, “Shit sorry, what was your question?”  
“Why did you do it?”  
Richie was caught off guard, eyebrows raising up quickly, “Do what spaghetti?”  
“Why did you save me? I know for a fact the Losers would have tried to stop you. Tell you to save yourself. So why did you save me even though you didn’t know if I would make it? I know you’re not a self righteous hero. And I hate to say it but I can’t think of you doing it for any of the other losers. So. Why? Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful, but I just want to know why,” he finished off, not a hint of emotion in his voice except for confusion.   
Another hesitation. Richie never hesitated this much, he was the fucking king of improv, so why was this any different?   
‘You don’t want to lie to him,’ a voice in his head whispered. It was true. Richie couldn’t say he would do it if it were any of the others. Because he wouldn’t have. So why did he do it? Did he do it because he was a good person on the inside? Or because there was no way he would lose Eddie again? No. He did it because he was not going to lose another one of his best friends. Yes, he loved all the Losers, don’t misread him. But.. Eddie was always one of his best friends. He knew him better than everyone else. The other was.. Stanley.  
God, Stanley. His mind hadn’t let itself wander to Stan too much, it made him too depressed to think about. They forgot Stanley as kids. And forgot him as adults. Stan had fucking died. If Stan were here he would have helped Richie save Eddie. He would have been here for Richie. But Richie wasn’t there for him.  
He saved Eddie because he didn’t want to lose anybody else there for him. He wanted to be there for someone other than himself for once in his damn life. He saved Eddie because he couldn’t bear living without him again.  
But he couldn’t say all that out loud. Not without seeming like an absolute weirdo. Eddie was asking what made him different from the other loses. Not asking Richie to suddenly spill all his emotions all over the hospital bed like it was that shitty turkey sandwich from earlier. He racked his brain on what to say, quietly, eyebrows furrowed. With his free hand he moved his glasses up, shoving them into his hair.  
“Let’s start with the first thing. You’re wrong. I would have done this for one other loser if I had the chance. If I could have saved Stan I would have-”  
“Richie-” Eddie tried to interrupt, guilt creeping into his tone.  
Richie chuckled, shaking his head, “No I have to say this. I wish I were there for Stan. I wasn’t about to let you die too. Not when I knew I could stop it. I wouldn’t have let them stop me. They tried.. A lot.. But I swear.. If I wasn’t strong enough to drag you out, I almost wasn’t, then I probably would have stayed in there with you. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I got out and you died and I did nothing to stop it.”  
“What makes me so different?”  
Richie couldn’t even stop himself, the words falling out suddenly. “I’m in love with you. That’s what makes you different.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in love with love. That's why there's a confession so early. Oh well!


End file.
